


Photographs Tucked Away In My Heart

by shirewalker



Category: Lunar Chronicles - Marissa Meyer
Genre: F/M, Fluff, I hope it's not too ooc!! D:, Post-Canon, cuties being cuties, first time actually writing fanfic for these two aside from quick drabbles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-13
Updated: 2018-01-13
Packaged: 2019-03-04 11:12:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13363476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shirewalker/pseuds/shirewalker
Summary: For TLC 2018 Ship weeks!! This is Cresswell's week and today the theme is "photograph".In which Cress is fond of polaroids and Thorne lives to surprise her <3





	Photographs Tucked Away In My Heart

 

 

 

All her life, Cress had never connected the word “surprise” with good things. Until she met Cinder. Until she met Thorne. Until the Rampion and its crew became her new family. And no one else worked harder than Thorne when it came to change her mind about surprises.

 

* * *

 

She could still remember as clear as day the moment she found Thorne sitting among a pile of old Polaroid cameras, a crate with “Fragile. Rare Collection” written on one side. Its cover laid somewhere to the side, dozens of “returned” stamps all over it. According to the logs that she found much later, this crate belonged to a collection that had long since been forgotten in the mail and wound up among the many crates the Rampion’s captain had ‘borrowed’.

But what had been imprinted in her mind wasn’t all this. No, what was forever in her memory was the sight of Carswell Thorne sitting cross-legged amidst what looked like an explosion of cameras. Except he didn’t know what they were or how they even worked, as she gathered from the string of curses he let out under his breath.

He’d found the devices while looking for a present for her. He’d thought about getting one working to surprise her. He’d spent an hour trying to figure out the strange device, like some old puzzle he’d found on a dusty shelf. Dismay washed over his face when Cress did a quick look over the camera and found out how to work with it in less than ten minutes. That was her first photo ever. Thorne’s shocked face. “That easy?” He’d said, feeling miserable over failing so badly at her first birthday spent with him. She’d laughed so much, only stopping when he pulled her in for a quick and chaste kiss. “I’m glad you liked it though, Cress.” He’d paused, furrowing a brow, “You did like the surprise, right?”

She’d looked down at the photo, a smile on her lips, “I loved it.”

 

* * *

 

Since that day, Thorne made sure his surprises for Cress were planned well ahead. Even though she would never hold it against him should a surprise fail somehow, Carswell wanted to make everything right. He had every intention of being worthy of her. Of deserving Cress.

So he took her with him everywhere. He showed her everything she wanted to see and some more. He surprised her with small things and big things and even some strange things. The happiness that bubbled through her upon ticking off wishes and items from her bucket list was tiny when compared to the way his smile made her feel. The way he looked so happy for her happiness, the way he looked so taken aback that she was still around. That smile and every little detail about it, every curve and tilt and glint of a tooth, that smile… It made her feel lighter than air itself.

It was so beautiful and out of this world that Cress couldn’t resist it. She took photos. Plenty of them. Somewhere deep in the Rampion was a shelf full of photo albums. In every page of every album were all the photos she took throughout their trips. Whether it was a place from her bucket list or just a letumosis cure drop point, it didn’t matter. She had a photo of it. But her favourite subject was, of course, Thorne and that wonderful smile of his. There were more photos of him and that smile than Cress would ever admit. She had so many, they were enough to tuck away under her pillow on the Rampion, her pillow at New Beijing’s palace and any pillow she would use at the hotels they would stay in throughout their trips around the world.

Thorne pretended to play along, but she knew the blush that took over his cheeks whenever she snapped a photo or he found her looking at one wasn’t a smug blush for show, but a bashful blush. A blush that Cress had somehow managed to discover by pure chance. Why he was so shy about those photos remained a mystery to her for quite some time. It wasn’t until she was planning her nineteenth birthday with the girls that Scarlet told her just why. Not only that. Scarlet explained why he was shy about the photos, why he kept things soft and tame when they kissed and why he wanted every new surprise to be the best surprise ever.

 

* * *

 

“It’s because he wants to be sure he’s worthy of you, Cress.” The red head said as she sat down at her table. Cinder, Winter and Iko were there as well, all the girls meeting at the Benoit farm to plan Cress’ big birthday. “He won’t rest until he feels he deserves you.” Cinder hummed in agreement, her mouth full with cookies. She’d eaten one and hadn’t stopped since sitting down. Iko hadn’t stopped teasing her every time a new cookie vanished in her mouth.

Cress looked puzzled for a moment, “But… We’re _dating_. We’re _together_ …” Her gaze fell on the rest of her friends, “I said yes, I would love to be his girlfriend. Why would he still feel he has to prove anything? And that still doesn’t explain why after all this time he still blushes so hard when I take a photo of him.” She fumbled with her teacup, a half-bitten butter cookie in her other hand.

Winter rested her chin on her palm and looked up, a dreamy glint in her eyes, “That’s because he thinks you’re the most beautiful and amazing thing in the world and it’s a mystery to him why you would love to take so many photos of him.” When the girls stared dumbfounded at her, she blinked and smiled, “Why, haven’t you noticed the way his eyes sparkle so bright when he looks at her. It’s clear as crystal. All written on his face.” She paused, “Figuratively speaking, I don’t see any words on his face.”

Laughter broke loose among the friends, Winter being the first to break the silence.

Even hours after the tea with her friends, even as she laid in her bed and the ship slept peacefully and Thorne fumbled with something deep in his own room, Cress still couldn’t stop thinking about Winter’s words. Did he really feel that way? Oh stars… That thought made her heart grow so large her bones would shatter any second. A smile as silly and goofy as the ones from her favourite soap operas spread over her lips. She sneaked a hand under her pillow and pulled out that very first photo. There he was, standing tall in the Rampion’s belly, looking so ridiculously dismayed over how easy the device was to use after all. It wasn’t that he felt diminished over Cress figuring it out so easily. No, he was just bummed that he hadn’t figured it out in due time so he could impress her. She knew that now just as well as she had known back then.

Another photo fell from her hands. This was the most recent one. They had just visited a museum on Venice. Cress had been over the moon with that trip. She had giggled and hopped in delight. She had gotten all the postcards, vintage and new ones. She had gotten a mini-gondola that now stood proud on her shelves. And Thorne… He’d smiled _that_ smile. Cress hadn’t been able to snap a photo until they were back on the ship, until they’d went on a virtual gondola ride and eaten pasta and pizza. But she had gotten a photo nevertheless.

Tomorrow was her birthday. She knew her boyfriend was planning something big. No, special. He was planning something special. She couldn’t wait to see what it would be. Where he would take her or what he had found for a present. She hoped it was somewhere magical, she hoped it would turn her to liquid as his best kisses always did. Finally, Cress fell asleep, photos tucked in her hands, dreams of Thorne and flying gondolas and magical kisses in her mind.

 

* * *

 

“So, captain…” She sat down next to Thorne and laced an arm through the crook of his own. “Where to today?” She hoped he’d chosen something extra romantic. She wanted a proper and earth-shattering make out session just like the two he’d given her back in Luna. Ever since then the captain had kept his kisses tamer, much to Cress’ chagrin. She longed for those kisses that turned air to fire and made stars want to stop on their tracks.

His blue eyes, their colour so bright and mesmerizing that Cress often found herself breathless with just one look, turned to her and a sheepish smile tugged on his lips, “I’m afraid today we’re not going anywhere, love.” He said.

Crestfallen, Cress felt her hopeful smile fall apart and her daydreams of wonderful kisses and magical places turn to dust, “What…? But… I thought…”

Panic widened his eyes as Thorne turned fully to her and caught her face between his hands, “Nononono, Cress! Don’t…! I didn’t mean that way!” He pecked her nose and then both her cheeks, “I meant…” that bashful blush tinged his cheeks and Cress guessed he hadn’t forgotten after all, “I want to stay home today. Just the two of us, being silly together. Baking a cake and decorating it as ridiculously as possible.” He mumbled, his whole over-confident demeanour shed away like a coat every time they were together like this, “We’ll go for dinner with our friends afterwards. But until then…” He turned away and pulled out a Polaroid camera. Cress wondered if her eyes had actually grown twice their size in that moment. Thorne had never picked up one of those cameras, claiming the devices hated him beyond reason. He continued, clearly pleased with her reaction, “I thought we could start with taking some silly photos on this day that marks the birth of the most brilliant woman I’ve ever met.”

Her heart fluttered so fast and so high, she wondered if it had taken flight and left her behind. Pressing a hand to where it was supposed to be, Cress let out a breath of relief upon feeling its speeding rhythm. Thorne followed that hand with his eyes and then looked up again. He lifted a hand and cupped her cheek once more, thumb softly caressing the spot where a blush was surely blooming to life. His cyborg fingers felt just a tad colder than the rest of his hand, but she hardly ever noticed that. Thorne leaned in and pressed a kiss to her lips. It was so soft, so tender… Perhaps earth-shattering make out sessions weren’t the best kisses he had to offer her after all. Her mind was numb, her heart fluttering inside her chest, her body forever a molten mess in his arms. Then, after what felt like an era, she felt his hot breath on her lips, “You really are the most brilliant woman on this planet, Cress. Don’t ever doubt that.” He kissed her again but Cress interrupted it quickly enough with a hand on his chest. Her body ached for the interrupted kiss. And so did Thorne, confusion marring his features.

She licked her lips and took a deep breath, having forgotten she needed such a thing when speaking, “And you, Carswell Thorne, don’t just kind of deserve me.” She quotes his words from so long ago, “You completely deserve me.” When his eyes grew large as marbles with acknowledgement she leaned in to steal a kiss, “You have always been deserving.” A smug grin crept to his lips and she shook her head softly, “Now, show me your skills with that camera, _captain_.”

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> hopefully this wasn't too ooc haha. I know Thorne is usually much more insufferable, but I wanted to write a more domestic and intimate side of him. And I love the idea of Cress being the only one to get to see this side of him. I also love the idea of Cress having hundreds of scrapbooks so yeah xD


End file.
